Kuala Lumpur - Recognising the value Shell Eco Marathon Asia (SEM Asia) offers to students, Shell with the support from the Department of Higher Learning, Ministry of Education extended a special invitation to all Malaysian universities to be part of Shell Eco-marathon Access (SEM Access). This session took place on the second day of Shell Eco-marathon Asia which is part of Shell’s Make The Future Live Malaysia 2019 that is taking place at Sepang International Circuit, Kuala Lumpur from 29 April to 2 May 2019.

There were about 24 universities and 11 industry partners who participated in the SEM Access session that aims to increase the quality of student participation in SEM Asia by encouraging a holistic partnership between industry partners and the universities. Shairan Huzani Husain, Managing Director of Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn Bhd and Shell Timur Sdn Bhd introduced SEM Asia to the guests for the day that comprised largely of universities and industry partners.

An MoU exchange took place between Shell Malaysia and six universities on a collaboration towards developing talent in energy efficiency using technological and innovative solutions. The MoU Exchange was witnessed by Yang Berusaha Dr Zaid bin Omar, Director of Student Development, Department of Higher Learning, Student Development, Ministry of Education and Datuk Iain Lo, Chairman of Shell Malaysia. The universities involved in the MoU exchange were Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP), Monash University Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), Multimedia University (MMU) and Universiti Malaysia Sabah.

“SEM Access is a platform for future participating universities, seasoned teams, alumni and business partners to come together to discuss, design and decide how to shape the future of energy together. With SEM Access, we introduced our local universities to SEM Asia, to get them interested and excited about participating in future events. The networking session with corporate and industry partners provided an insight into the innovative capability and talent of our students, and we hope that these corporations will extend their support to future SEM Asia Malaysian teams,” shared Shairan Huzani Husain, Managing Director of Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn Bhd and Shell Timur Sdn Bhd.

He further added that SEM Access is aligned with Shell’s purpose to power progress together by providing more and cleaner energy solutions, and our commitment to elevate Malaysians’ talent, capabilities and resources globally.

Besides the MoU exchange, students were given an opportunity to meet with the 2018 Shell Eco-marathon’s Drivers World Challenge champions; Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember from Surabaya, Indonesia, in a ‘Learn From The Best’ session. This was followed by a session with the team captains from the five Malaysian universities participating in this year’s SEM Asia. The session ended with a panel discussion with the industry partners

The main intent of SEM Access is to get wider involvement of like-minded industry partners, ministries and universities to be part of the eco-system. The creation of this eco-system will help Shell to collaborate in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), innovation and Research & Development (R&D) amongst government, academia and partners.

SEM Asia 2019 comes back to Malaysia, where it was first held in 2010 and celebrates its 10th year of challenging bright young student minds to design and build ultra-energy-efficient cars, and then take them out on the track in competition.

Across the four days, over100 teams from all over Asia and the Middle East will test their self-built energy-efficient cars in the Shell Eco-marathon Mileage Challenge, to see who can go the farthest using the least amount of energy. In 2018 Singapore hosted the event, where the winning team was efficient enough to travel 2,341 kilometres – about the distance from Malaysia to Yangon, Myanmar – on just one litre of fuel!

For more information on Shell Eco-marathon Asia 2019, please visit: https://www.shell.com/make-the-future/shell-ecomarathon/asia.html

About Shell Eco-marathon

Shell Eco-marathon can be traced back to 1939 at a Shell research laboratory in the United States as a friendly wager between scientists to see who could get the most miles per gallon from their vehicle. The winner of that contest barely achieved 50 mpg (21 km/l). These humble origins inspired what is now a global programme of competitions. In 1985 in France, Shell Eco-marathon as we know it today was born. In April 2007, Shell Eco-marathon Americas event was launched in the United States, and in 2010, the inaugural Shell Eco-marathon Asia was kicked off in Malaysia.

Malaysia hosted Shell Eco-marathon Asia from 2010 until 2013. In 2014, the event moved to a street circuit in Manila, Philippines, which hosted the event until 2016. Shell Eco-marathon Asia then moved to Singapore at the Make the Future Festival from 2017 to 2018. This 2019, in its 10th year, Shell Eco-marathon Asia returns to the Sepang International Circuit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Media contact:

Prema Jayabalan
Media Relations & Issues Manager, Shell Malaysia
Email: Prema.Jayabalan@shell.com